Anthony Burkhardt
Anthony was born in France in 3150. He was was born with no name and was a scrawny, plain-looking boy with an alcoholic, Hexen mother, and no father figure in his life. He inherited a strange amalgamation of human, Mordin, and Hexen, marking him a freak of nature and a monster that shouldn’t be seen by public eye due to all of the races warring against each other. His mother was horribly abusive to both him and his twin brother and he wasn’t allowed to speak, making him completely mute for the first six years of his life. (Not speaking unless he had to would be a habit he carried into his adult life.) After those six years, however, a townwide fire started in his district that was so large firefighters were called in from other districts in an attempt to put it out. Anthony’s father, who had been completely unaware of his existence until that point, was coincidentally a firefighter and saved Anthony from the burning house he’d refused to leave. Anthony was taken in and finally given a name - Damascus Odysseys - and joined a family of eight. His new mother was from the Isles of Lost, the place where magic had originally come from, and he became her apprentice to learn about magic. She discovered he had a genetic disorder called Detraxia which allowed him the abilities of a Tuner and began teaching him more rigorously to make sure he didn’t hurt himself or others accidentally with such strong magic. Following massive violent protests, there was a magic-ban across all of Europe and anyone who practiced magic was taken from their homes to quite painfully have the magic removed from them, become indefinitely imprisoned, or to be burned at the stake. Anthony’s mother was one of the many taken and she was burned. Not even a week later he and his half-sister were abducted by slavers. He was tossed from country to country, separated from his sister, until being bought by an eager American buyer who used him for cage fighting. It wasn’t simply cage fighting, though, it was more of a forced gladiator type deal - medieval weapons and all. Food was not something to be enjoyed or savored. They were given no other option except to eat the defleshed bodies of the fighters who’d lost. Needless to say, this didn’t help the prisoners’ mental states in the slightest. Many began to go mad, having random bursts of schizophrenic episodes, screaming without warning, and attacking fellow victims, which only made them more entertaining to watch in the ring. Anthony on the other hand, was part Mordin, and cannibalism was normal practice for that species, thus apart from the extreme guilt, his mental state remained adequate, if not shaky. It was the nonstop slaughter that came from his hands that drove him to insanity. It stole his mind like a deranged thief, leaving nothing behind other than a psychotic, schizophrenic mess. After seven years, he finally managed to unshift himself and slip away as much as he could within the camp’s walls. For three days he hid inside a large, wooden crate until, by some miracle, he was found by a face that wasn’t one of his captors. It was a new face, a Hexen by the name of General Miesner, who would eventually take him in as his son. All across Europe, there was a mutual law that no overseas travelers were allowed to enter or travel across their lands. That meant that Anthony, even though he’d been taken against his will, could never return home lest he face a death penalty. Thus, he was forced to stay in the wastelands of the U.S. Anthony joined the Vermillion Stripe and was given the name Anthony Burkhardt by Miesner to replace his old one. He was stationed at East with Miesner who gladly adopted him and did his best to straighten the young man out after what had happened to him. A few years passed and Anthony had climbed enough ranks to reach First Lieutenant and was stationed at North alongside his best friends Maxie, Tawny, and Jack, to replace the retiring Core members. (Core is a group of individuals - typically a team of four or five - in the Stripe who are the most elite and most skillfully trained in all areas of battle.) He lived in Canada for a while before stumbling across the ruins of an old cabin which he fixed up and made his own place. Many years after becoming the General and head of North, Anthony met Sarah Flynt. Their relationship started out as one of hatred and filled with venom, but after a very, very long time and numerous awkward encounters, they were engaged and soon married. Eventually, Anthony, who couldn’t have children of his own, took in a son and two years after that a daughter. He reunited with the sister who had also been sold into slavery and he currently lives in that same cabin and is pleased with the outcome of his life.